Twisted Rings of Fate
by Psychoanalysis
Summary: A girl and a boy from the year 2005 are mysteriously sent back to live in 1895 England...so what connection do they have to the Order, Circe, the Rakshana, Gemma, and Kartik?
1. Ugh, History class

Disclaimer--I do not own _A Great and Terrible Beauty_ or _Rebel Angels_. I do, however, own this measley bit of fanfic, and I will hunt you down and...key your car if you steal it! Muaha!

So, just to let y'all know, this HAS NO SPOILERS! This takes place right after _A Great and Terrible Beauty_. There, glad we got that straightened out.

* * *

"God, history class is _so_ boring," I whispered to my friend Alana as our history teacher, Mr. Musnich, droned on about "the amazing Victorian era England."

"Oh, c'mon, Lea. It's not _that_ bad," she replied, rolling her eyes at my frequent complaints. Well, sor-_ry_ for not seeing what's so freakin' spectacular about history!

"Yes, it is. I mean, who gives a damn about Victorian era England?"

"Some people. Mr. Musnich."

"Well, I'm obviously not one of them," I said, rolling my eyes.

"You should ask Bono to help you study," Alana suggested slyly. Bono is the guy that I like, in case you were wondering. Well, I've liked him for a couple of years now. By the way, he isn't the guy from U2 (unfortunately). His mom is a huge fan, though, so she named him Bono. Pretty cool, I think. I love U2. But not because Bono's named Bono! I swear! I'm not a stalker!

"Are you serious? No!" I hissed. Another thing about me is that I'm extremely shy around guys that I like. Or even find attractive. Unfortunately.

It really bothers the crap out of my friends.

"C'mon, you could do it!" she said in a combination sly/encouraging voice.

"No! I don't have the guts, as you well know," I responded angrily, embarrassed.

"You know, it's completely pathetic that a seventeen-year-old girl can barely even _look_ at a guy she likes, let alone talk to him."

"Ladies? Would you care to share what is more interesting than Queen Victoria?" We both shut up as Mr. Musnich gave us his I-caught-you-talking death glare. _Later_, Alana mouthed to me. I rolled my eyes.

* * *

"Hey, it's Lea, right?" I heard a voice from behind me call.

I turned and dropped my books in surprise. _Bono? Talking to little ol' ME?_ "Wha--yeah," I said as I bent down to pick up my books.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said as he kneeled down to help me.

"No, it's cool. I mean, you didn't scare me," I said hastily. "What's up?" I fiddled around with my papers so that I wouldn't have to look him in the eye. _Come on, girl! _my inner-Alana said. _He's not going to ask to marry you!_

_"_I was wondering--" _Wondering what? If you'd like to grab dinner? Yes, yes, and thrice yes!_ "--if you wouldn't mind helping me with one of my college essays," he said. "I know you're good at English and you seem to be ediiting stuff all the time."

I swallowed. "Yeah, sure," I said slowly. Okay, I'll admit--I was mildly horrified that he didn't ask me to dinner, but hey, editing an essay is something, right? Maybe I could charm him with my ability to use proper grammar. "Do you want my email? Or--"

"How about I give you my number?" he said. "Here, let me jot it down." He pulled a pen out of his pocket and wrote _Bono: 555-2636_ on the cover of my math book. "Let me know whenever you've got time to do it, okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sure, I'll call you later," I said.

He grinned at me. "Thanks, Lea. You're a lifesaver."

I smiled back at him. "An-anytime," I said. _Of COURSE I would stutter._

* * *

_I was dreaming. Very vividly. There were two of us: we were in a field, wearing weird clothes— me in a corset, long skirt, boots, and dress over that; and he in weird pants, a white pirate-style blouse, a vest, and some weird old-fashioned black boots. It was windy, a cyclone building up. We were running towards some old-looking building, but neither one of us knew why. Safety, maybe. I could hear him yelling at me, but didn't catch any of_. _Except for one word, one name: "Lea?"_

* * *

I woke up with a start, breathing heavily and shaking.

"Liberty, you'd better get up if you want to eat," I heard a girl's voice say.

I rolled over and what I saw literally shocked me out of bed. I fell on the floor, exclaiming, "Who the hell—Where am I?" _Smart, Lea. Real smart. _

The girl rolled her eyes. She had extremely light blonde hair, light skin, and gray eyes. However, her personality seemed anything but gray. "I'm Felicity, your roommate. You're at Spence School, obviously. Now stop playing games and bloody get up!"

"Huh? Spence School?" I rolled over and realized that I was wearing a skirt and a weird top. _Kind of like I was in my dream..._

I gasped quickly and shot up from my laying position on the floor. "My dream!"

"What?" Felicity asked in a bored voice.

"N-nothing," I said. I stood up and walked over to (what I assumed was) my trunk of stuff. I reached in and pulled out (what I assumed were) my clothes.

A thought occurred to me as I looked over the odd clothes that I had absolutely no idea how to wear. "Felicity, what's the date?"

"November 7, 1895."

"1895?"

* * *

Constructive critisism liked...any critisism, actually...I've got about three more chapters written out but you'll have to wait for any more, I'm afraid. Thanks for taking the time to read it, though. I appreciate it. Really, I do. :)


	2. 1895?

Disclaimer--I do not, regretably, own A_ Great and Terribe Beauty _or Re_bel Angels_. If I did, do you really think I'd be writing fanfic for it? No.

* * *

"Yes, 1895! What are you, dumb?" Felicity asked with annoyance.

"No—it's just that—well, yesterday, it was September 14, 2005," I said, not believing it.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure it was" was her amused response.

"No! I swear it was! See? I don't know any customs or dress or anything from this time period! I never pay attention in history class!" I almost yelled, pissed that she wasn't believing me. Though I wouldn't have believed it, either, if someone from the year 2125 came and told me that they were from that year. "My name isn't Liberty. It's Lea. Short for Leanne. Leanne Hewis. I—" I stopped here, because Felicity's amused look was turning into one of annoyance. "Please, just help me. What do I wear, and what do customs dictate?"

She once again rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll humor you out of the goodness of my heart," she said. She began telling me what I was supposed to wear and describing things, all the while keeping a vaugely amused look on her face. She really did not understand how hopeless I was.

Breakfast was, to be blunt, crap. The bacon was all cold and greasy, but it was the only thing left to eat by the time we'd gone downstairs. Felicity was glaring daggers at me (probably from the missed edible breakfast) whenever she wasn't talking to her friends, Ann and Gemma. (She'd introduced me to them and then ditched me. I had the feeling that she was just helping me because she either was assigned to or wanted to suck up to the teachers by being nice to the New Girl).

First lesson was French. I've never taken a French class in my life, although I am fluent in Hindi. (for some reason, my parents spoke it at home, even though neither of them were (a) Hindu or (b) had gone to India in their lives. My mother once told me that it was because they had taken Hindi classes together while they were dating and didn't want to forget it. "Yeah, because Hindi classes are totally romantic," I'd scoffed.)

"_Quel est votre nom?_" the teacher, Mademoiselle LeFarge asked.

"Uh_...comment-allez vous?_" I responded, using all of the French that I knew. The class giggled quietly, even though they shouldn't have. (Politeness factor, remember?)

The teacher looked at me with an annoyed expression. "I asked you what your name was, Miss Bell, and you responded with 'how are you?'"

"Um...I'm sorry?" I said, unsure of how to respond.

"Do you mean to tell me, Miss Bell, that you know no French whatsoever?" she said in an almost angry voice.

"No, Mademoiselle, I speak fluent English—"

"We know _that_," I heard some smart-ass whisper loud enough for the whole class to hear. More laughter.

"—and I also speak fluent Hindi," I finished.

The teacher thought. "Well, Miss Bell, I suggest you catch up to your age level. Otherwise, I'll be putting you with the younger girls."

"Yes, Mademoiselle," I manged to get out.

I silently lamented for the rest of class. _Why the hell am I here? __What did I ever do? Is there anyone here who will willingly help me? Does this have anything to do with..._

"Miss Bell?"

I looked up. It was the teacher. "Yes--I mean, _oui_, Mademoiselle?"

"Class was dismissed."

"Oh," I responded, and got up to leave.

The rest of the day went like that—a big mess. Lunch wasn't any better than breakfast, and tea was just plain horrible. I did have a free period though, right after tea. I decided that, since Felicity seemed to all but hate me at this point, I'd go out and explore the grounds.

Boy, did I get a surprise. There was a pond with a dock, boathouse, and boat out near the woodsy area of the grounds. Who would've thought, for a Victorian girls' boarding school? I'd heard rumors about gypsies out in the woods, but I didn't care. Maybe they'd know a spell to get me home again. _It honestly can't get much worse than this..._

_Dammit, Lea! Don't think negative thoughts!_ I mentally chastised myself. Then--

"Lea?" I heard a surprisingly familiar voice say. I turned around and...

"What the—_Bono_?"


	3. You're here, too?

"Holy—Lea Hewis? From Chester High School?" Bono said at the same time as I burst out, "Bono Majent? From the year 2005?"

"Holy hell, it is you!" we both said at the same time.

"How the hell did you end up here?" he asked me.

"I don't know. I was dreaming a weird dream…and then I woke up to a blonde girl telling me to get up and go get breakfast! And she thinks I'm crazy, because I don't know the customs and stuff. I never pay attention in history class," I answered honestly. A voice said to me, _Is this Lea? Lea Hewis? The girl who claimed that she could never talk to guys she liked? Even cute guys? And now she's stuck in the past with Bono, her crush-to-end-all-crushes? In 1895? Pinch me, I'm in heaven. Or Hell. I mean, 1895!_

"Damn, that makes two of us. For the not-paying-attention-in-history-class thing," he said, shaking his head. "I pay attention to US History, but not World History." He made a face."Of course, it's lucky that both of us are here, right? Maybe we have a better chance of getting home now."

"Yeah," I sighed wistfully. "Home..."

We both looked silently out at the lake. A thought occurred to me. "Where are you living, anyway? Is there, like, a guy's school around here?"

He shook his head. "I'm living out in the woods with some gypsies," he told me. "Wish I spoke the language," he added with a wry smile.

"If it's Hindi, I can help you. If it's French, then you're asking the wrong girl." I told him about what had happened with the French class that morning.

He looked surprised. "I can help you with French."

"Really? Are you—thank you so so much. That would be a huge help." I realized that I was gushing, but I couldn't help myself. _How am I actually talking to the guy I like? And how are we both here?_ I shook my head. _Not questions to be asked now._

I heard a voice call out, "LIBERTY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

I sighed. "They're calling me. Apparently, my name here is Liberty Bell." Bono cracked up. "What?" I asked, annoyed.

"Have you _ever_ paid attention in history?"

"No. Why?"

He laughed some more. "Because then you'd know that the Liberty Bell is something in American history."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course my name would have to be something corny like that."

"LIBERTY!" The voice was getting closer now.

"I'd—I'd better go," said Bono uncomfortably.

"Why? You're my friend." As soon as I said the words I regretted them, feeling my face turn red.

"Well...if we get caught out here, you'll be shunned from society. Just because you were hanging out with me, the bad gypsy."

"I don't understand. Why the hell—"

"Neither do I, Lea. It almost happened to some guy named Ithal. Go. I'll see you later. I hope."

"Yeah, me too," I said as I ran off in the direction of the voice.

"There you are," said Gemma upon spotting me.

"Yeah, I was...exploring the pond." _What a stupid excuse._

She raised her eyebrows. "Uh-huh."

"It's the truth!"

"I never said that it wasn't."

I sighed. "So, where are we off to now?"

"Dinner, then prayers, then free time until ten. Then we go to bed."

"Prayers? I—" I was just about to say _I don't believe in God_, but then I remembered that this era had all sorts of insane rules and customs.

"You what?"

"Nothing, nothing." I closed my eyes and sighed. "I'm just not used to this." _And you have no idea how true that is._

"I know how it is."

This surprised me. "You do?"

"Yeah. I was new here in August."

"Oh."

"And Fee—Felicity—is nice. You just have to give her time."

"She thinks I'm insane."

"She's just mad because—" Gemma cut herself off and got a far-off look in her eyes.

"Because what?"

"Because...nothing, it's nothing."

"It's something. Look, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'd like to know."

"If Felicity wants you to know, then you will know."

* * *

Prayers was so damn _boring_. I almost fell asleep, seriously.

Free time was a little better, but barely. I rooted through my/Liberty's trunk for a journal, a letter, a book—_something_ that could give me a hint as to who Liberty Bell was.

I finally found a book that was titled "My Events" and brought it down to the room where we would be having "free time."

_4 September 1895  
My mother bought me (Liberty Anne Bell) (but not Libby, seeing as I'm not allowed to be called Libby anymore) this thing to use as a calendar for social events for my 16th birthday last month. She thinks that I should be able to keep track of things now that I'm 16 and almost a grown woman. Yeah, right. If I'm so grown, then why am I currently living in India? Nothing happens here. At least stuff happened in America. At least people spoke the language. And at least there were guys that were marriable..._

18 September 1895  
I can not believe this.  
My parents died last night.  
They were killed by a fire in one of the stalls at the market. All it took was a spark.  
I'm going to go live in England. "Be careful what you wish for," my Aunt June used to tell me, but I never listened. I wished to get out of India, but I didn't want it to go this way.  
I'm going to go live with my brother and his wife. They live just outside London. And I'll probably be sent to boarding school, just so that I'm 'out of the way."  
I still can't believe it.

3 October 1895  
I leave on a boat tomorrow for England. The journey should take a couple of weeks, and then I'm probably going to go to School. I wonder where I'll be attending...

6 November 1895  
I just got here, to the school. It's called Spence Academy. And apparently, the girl whose spot I'm taking died last month. I accidentally overheard Samuel (my brother) telling Mary (his wife) that last night. The girls will hate me, probably because I'll be a constant reminder of whoever died.  
Why are there such things as death in this world? Why can't everything be like the Dreamworld? I wish things could be different.

I put down the book. There were no entries after that, because today was the 7th. _Wow,_ I thought. _To go through all that...now I know why Felicity hates me so much. Damn._

I sat there, analyzing it and trying to figure more out about the history of Liberty Anne Bell.

* * *

I hadn't figured out much more by the time we were all sent to bed. The part that confused me the most was "the Dreamworld." What was the Dreamworld, and what did she mean by "Why can't everything be like the Dreamworld?"

I fell asleep still pondering that question, Bono, why Bono was here too, why _I_ was here, where _here_ was, what the point of corsets was, Bono, Liberty Anne Bell, "the Dreamworld," the stupid customs of this time, Bono, sleep...

But even in my sleep, I couldn't figure things out.

* * *

**And there's chapter three! Hope you like it! Thanks for reading, and constructive critisism wanted if you can spare a moment! **

**Does anyone know when the next book is coming out, by the way?**

**And thank you to all of my lovely reviewers! I really didn't expect to get that many! Thanks, really! (Really!) (Really really!) (Really really really!) (Okay, this is getting dumb now...anyways...)**


	4. The Dreamworld

**Disclaimer--I do not happen to own _A Great and Terrible Beauty_. I wish I did. Then I could write it and get paid. Instead, I'll just settle for writing fanfic about it.**

**Just for the record, Lea's name is supposed to be spelled with an 'e,' not an 'i.'**

**Thank you to all of my other reviewers! You guys rock my socks! Now, onto the next chapter...-smiles-**

* * *

I came to consciousness in a world so perfect, I knew that something was wrong. The air was the perfect temperature--not too hot, yet not too cold. It smelled like lavender and chamomile--my favorite herbs. There was a river of pure sappire blue and I was standing in a field of emerald green grass that tickled my ankles. I could faintly heard music playing. _This must be the 'Dreamworld' that Liberty mentioned, _I realised. _It's freakin' AMAZING!_

"Wow...what is this place, really?" I wondered aloud.

"The realms," said a familiar voice from behind me.

I spun around and bumped into Gemma. "What're you doing here? And what are the realms?" I asked as Felicity asked, "How did you get here?" Ann was there, too, but she didn't say anything. She only gave me a strange look.

"Well..." I started. I then looked at Felicity. "When I told you that I was from the furture, I wasn't lying. I was born--or, will be born—on January 31, 1989. When I fell asleep last night, it was November 7, 2005. When I woke up...it was today, 1895."

Ann's eyes widened, but Felicity and Gemma only exchanged looks.

"And Bono's here too." Oh, wait, they wouldn't know who Bono was.

"What's a Bono?" Ann asked.

"Bono's a person. He's from my time. We go to school together, and I guess we both ended up here together, too. We don't really know."

"Is that who you were talking to when we were looking for you?" asked Gemma.

I nodded. "Yeah. We've never talked to each other before--our school was really big--"

"Boys and girls go to the same school?" asked Felicity with a look of interest on her face.

I nodded. "Most people do. Everyone goes to school, too. Public schools. If you want to go to a private school or a boarding school or an all-girl's school then you can, but you have to pay a lot of money."

Ann looked scandalized. "You call him by his first name, yet you've never talked to him before?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I do. I only refer to teachers by their last names," I replied, totally lost.

"It's improper to refer to anyone you're not on intimate terms with by their first name," Ann replied primly.

"Um...no one in the twenty-first century talks like that." _Damn corset! I can't freaking breathe!_

"How odd," replied Felicity with an odd look on her face. Kind of like she'd enjoy that. Felicity striked me as the type of girl who would thrive in 2005, probably because of her playful personality and her good looks. I had to admit, I was jealous of her white-blonde hair. I always wanted hair that color. Instead, I got that common brown color that half the world has.

"So, what are the relams?" I asked, changing the subject completely, wanting to stop talking about myself.

"The realms are where you can be anything you want to be," said Ann wistfully.

"You can do whatever you want. All you have to do is imagine it," added Gemma. "How'd you get here, anyway?"

"I...I remember falling asleep. This is kind of like the place I was in the dream I had that I had last night. The one the night I, uh, _arrived_ here." I closed my eyes, remembering. "I was running through a field, dressed in this," I started, gesutring towards my outfit. "Bono was there too, and I guess he was wearing the guy equivalent of this. We were running, and I think he yelled something at me, but I didn't hear it. The wind was blowing too hard for me to hear."

Gemma looked lost in thought. "So can you really have what you want if you imagine it?" I asked Felicity, changing the subject again.

She nodded.

"Great, then I'm outta this freaking corset," I said as I imagined myself in my favorite pair of jeans and tank top. It was pretty warm here. I heard three gasps as I felt the skirt turn into jeans, and the top of the dress and corset turn into a tank top and a bra.

"What are you _wearing_?" Ann asked, scandalized.

"I'm wearing what is commonly worn in 2005. Why? What's wrong with it?"

"Your--your arms!" Gemma gasped.

"Yeah...what about them?"

"They're--you're not--they're bare!"

I nodded slowly. "Things must've changed a _lot_ in a hundred twenty years. Technology, clothing styles, music styles, learning stuff...all that," I muttered.

They were still giving me looks of scandalization. "Well, I mean, I could show you what _some_ people wear..." I said, thinking of some of the less modest girls at my school known under the stereotype of "slut" or "whore."

Ann's eyes widened even more, if that was possible. "You mean, there's even _more_ indecent outfits than that?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's really nasty. Like in winter, some girls will be wearing mini skirts and way too low-cut tops and be all...I don't even know. It's disgusting, though."

"Mini skirt?" Gemma asked.

"Like a skirt, but it's anywhere from this long to this long," I replied, gesticulating.

A look of revulsion crossed her face.

"Yeah, I know," I agreed.

Ater that, we discussed the mysterious realms and the trio's involvement in them. The realms were amazing. They are amazing. I couldn't--can't believe that I didn't know about them. True, I still had no idea why I or Bono were there or why us, but that tiny bit of the mystery was solved.

* * *

"Ugh..." I woke up the next morning with a light, airy feeling. Like I could do anything. Know anything. I thought of Bono and instantly knew the exact coordinates of where he was, right down to the last inch. I realised that I also knew my coordinates, Felicity's coordinates, Ann's coordinates, the headmistress's coordinates...

"Liberty? Liberty? You there?" Felicity's sharp voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"My name's not Liberty, I told you. It's Lea."

"Fine, then. Lea, are you with us?"

"No. Felicity, do you have any idea how I could possibly know everyone's exact location?"

I heard her grin. _Heard_ it. "And how I could just hear your grin?" I added.

"The magic," she said. "It's loose. Watch." She looked down at her hands, and a ruby broach appeared.

"Whoa...Amazing!" I was almost at a loss for words. Almost.

A thought occured to me. "Hmm...I wonder..."

I felt a gringrow on my face as I thought of the magic I wished to try. I concentrated, and...

"Bloody..." I heard Felicity say in suprise.

* * *

**BWAHAHAHAHA! Cliffie! Till next time, loves!**


	5. A Disappearing Girl

**First: I am so, so sorry that I haven't updated in so long! Senioritis is kicking in, so I'm going to try to get back into this story. Thank you for not losing complete faith in me, and I promsie I'll try to make it up to you somehow!**

**Second of all: I went back and did some minor editing on the past chapters, so now they suck a little less. XP**

**Third of all: I do not happen to own _A Great and Terrible Beauty._ Just Lea and Bono. Thank you.  
**

**Fourth of all: I'm shutting up now and getting to the story. Enjoy, guys!**

* * *

_(Recap: I felt a grin grow on my face as I thought of the magic I wished to try. I concentrated, and..._

_"Bloody..." I heard Felicity say in surprise.)_

I grinned. My side of the room was now decked out in many of the same posters and pictures that I had at my house. My dresser now contained my makeup from home, just as I'd left it, and there were a pair of jeans, a pair of worn blue Converse, and a Coldplay concert tee sitting on my bed.

"What the hell is all of that?" asked Felicity. I was surprised she'd managed to speak, to be honest. I realized about point three seconds after I wished for it how shocking my 2005 things must be to a Victorian girl.

"Oh, you know," I said lightly. "Just things from home."

Felicity walked over to a poster of Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural. "Why is this photograph so vivid? It almost looks real."

"That's what one hundred years of technological advanced gets you," I said with a grin.

"Who are these men? Are they your brothers?"

I laughed. "No way," I said. "They're characters in a TV show I like." She gave me a weird look, and then I remembered that the television wouldn't be invented for another...forty, fifty years?

"Never mind," I said. "They're hot, aren't they?"

She gave me another weird look. "You're going to need to work on your speech," she said. "They do not appear to be sweating."

I sighed. "Attractive," I said. "Like you want to make out with them," I added.

"Make out?"

I shook my head. "Never mind. But they are attractive, aren't they?"

Felicity grinned. "They dress very strangely, but yes, I suppose I can see why one would find them attractive."

I laughed. "These are my 2005 clothes," I said, pointing at the items on the bed. "And these," I said, walking over to my dresser and picking up a tube of mascara, "are my makeups and things from 2005."

"What could one possibly do with that?" she asked questioningly.

I glanced at the clock. "I'll have to show you later," I said. "Don't we have class?"

"Oh,_ blast!"_

* * *

The days passed. I visited the realms in my dreams--not every night--and went to my classes and pretened that I was Liberty Bell. My French improved (so did my English), I learned how to waltz without making a complete ass of myself, and I eventually got used to the amount of clothing that the Victorians wore. The things I had magicked up--my clothes, posters, and makeup--stayed, to my surprise, but I had to hide them. "You don't want to have to explain to Brigid why you have giant pictures of men on your walls," Felicity had warned me. "Or why the photographs look so real. She'll cry witch and claim you nearly gave her a heart attack."

My life as someone else started to make a little more sense, and everything fell into a sort of routine. There were two pressing questions that wouldn't stop revolving around my head, however: Where did Liberty Bell, whoever she is, go? And why is Bono here with me?

The realms provided no answers--whenever I could get into them, that is--and looking for Bono was out of the question most of the time. I learned quickly from gossip overheard at meals what happened to girls who were caught with rich, white, upper-class men that they were found with. Considering how much damage _that_ caused, I didn't want to risk getting caught with a guy who was living with the gypsies in the woods. I hadn't found anything more of Liberty's besides her diary, and that didn't provide any answers.

So I decided to check in the library. _That's what they do in books, isn't it?_ I reasoned. _Besides, it's a nice, quiet activity in which a young lady can engage without attracting much attention, right?_

The library was a menacing room. I'd spent a lot of time in libraries at home, but they were always warm and welcoming, with kind old librarians and candy jars and craft days for kids. Besides, there were computers that I could use to search for anything I needed at home and computers wouldn't be invented for another...seventy years, right?

I walked slowly past the shelves, wondering where the hell to start.

"Looking for something?" asked a voice from behind me. I spun around to see a pretty girl with dark hair and violet eyes behind me. Her skin was astonishingly pale...but that was normal for this day and age, right?

"Y-yeah," I stuttered. "Do you have any old newspapers? Or journals?" I asked, hoping that there was something somewhere that could help me.

She smiled. "Yes, right this way," she said. "Follow me." She turned and led me through a winding maze of bookshelves. _Funny, I don't remember the library being this big. Or this windy._ I glanced around at my surroundings again. _Or this dark._

The girl turned a corner ahead of me. "Don't get lost," she said. There was a strange tone to her voice--was it laughter? Was she just leading me on? _Probably,_ I thought. _Girls apparently weren't any nicer a hundred years ago than they are now. I mean, in 2005._

I turned the corner she turned, but there was no one there--just a long, dark corridor. "Hello?" I called. "Miss?" This was so cliche. I couldn't believe it. How had this happened? Wasn't this the sort of thing that only happened in crappy mystery novels? This couldn't be happening. _But then again, by that logic, I can't be in 1895,_ I realized. "Oh, _shit,_" I said.


End file.
